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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Jerry "Mr. Clutch" West, the man behind the NBA Logo, the former star of the Lakers, and the man who became famous because of his clutch shots all throughout his long career in the NBA. Those clutch shots went in because he has a beautiful stroke. No one can deny that he has one of the most effective strokes in the NBA even if he's no longer playing in the league. That's why every bit of information and every bit of teachings about the proper way of shooting the ball coming from Mr. Clutch will be very important. And luckily, I was able to get some of it from the article that I read in the Lakers' Website. Here's what Mr. Clutch said about shooting the ball:

“Shooting starts with a good foundation: a good lead foot, a good heel to toe strike and flattening of the second foot on the floor. You must get your knees into it, get your butt down and your elbow up to relax your upper body, which in turn helps you push up and out through the shot. With a good, nice follow through, you should see the ball reach its destination.”

There's also an additional information about the proper attitude that a player should have if he wants to be a professional basketball player. Mr. Clutch added:

"Preparation is the key to anything that you do, and that basketball wasn’t any different."

Hard work and being always prepared have been Mr. Clutch's habit even when he little. I was able to read some information about him in Wikipedia that tells a lot about his work ethic and about his steadfast love for the sport. Trust me, this short passage will change not only your attitude towards basketball but as well as your attitude towards life. More than the technicalities of shooting the ball this passage about Mr. Clutch's life is but a fitting ending for this article.

"Jerry Alan West was born into a poor household in Chelyan, West Virginia. He was the fifth of six children of his mother Cecil Sue West, a housewife, and her husband Howard Stewart West, a coal mine electrician. West was a shy, introverted boy, who became even more withdrawn when his closest brother David died in the Korean War at age 22 when Jerry was 12. He was so small and frail that he needed vitamin injections from his doctor and was kept apart from children's sports, to prevent him from getting seriously hurt. Growing up, West spent his days hunting and fishing, but his main distraction was shooting at a basketball hoop that a neighbor had nailed to his storage shed. West spent years shooting baskets from every possible angle, ignoring mud and snow in the backyard, as well as his mother's lashes when he came home hours late for dinner; he played so often that the NBA acknowledged it as "obsessive"."